St. Campbell's Day
"St. Campbell's Day" (pronounced Street Campbell's Day) is the holiday special of the fourth season of Camp Camp, technically making it the 19th episode of the season, and is the 59th episode overall. It premiered December 20th, 2019 on the RT FIRST site, and December 22nd, 2019 on both the Rooster Teeth website and YouTube. It was first announced on December 14th, 2019, where Jordan Cwierz tweeted out that a holiday special would be airing within the next week, as well as showcasing a promotional poster with the episode's title.https://twitter.com/RoosterTeeth/status/1205956879278469120 Miles Luna referred to the episode as a "holiday miracle" after it aired on the RT 2019 Holiday live stream, since this special wasn't included in the original Season 4 announcement. Official Synopsis Plot David has gathered the campers outside of the Mess Hall, gleefully informing them that today is a special day, and of course Max is immediately suspicious because that's what he says before trying to trick them into doing something lame. The campers raise their hands when David asks who likes going to the beach, and immediately put them down when he asks if they like digging holes. Max rolls his eyes and says he can't disguise manual labor by making them do it at the beach, but David admits the activity will be taking place where they are. He tries to lure them back in by saying they'll also be doing some woodworking and paper making, showing them a picture of a rectangular structure on a clipboard with a smile and a question of "that's fun, right?" Neil pulls his arm down to get a closer look, and flatly states that it's a diagram for building an outhouse, to which Max triumphantly declares he fucking knew it. Campbell comes storming out and slaps the clipboard out of David's hands, telling him to pick it up after demanding to know why they insist on interrupting his Women's Studies course - "Did you know they have rights?" he adds as an afterthought. David sheepishly explains he was trying to tackle the project of building an outhouse, and Campbell calls him a "Scrooge" for putting the children to work on a holiday while smacking the clipboard out of his hands again. Neil asks what holiday it is, and with narrowed eyes Campbell replies "it's our holiday" before slapping the board out of David's grasp once more. Everyone has gathered inside the Mess Hall, where Campbell is pitching his idea for a new holiday. Standing next to a tall presentation board, he explains that the problem is that all the good holidays (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years) are all in the winter just a few weeks apart, yet here they are in the doldrums of summer with no major holidays to speak of. He flips the page where his solution, St. Campbell's Day, is written in big bold letters. Gwen asks, "Saint Campbell's Day?" but Campbell explains in a vengeful tone that the "St." stands for "Street" until he can get the Catholics to settle some sort of litigation case outside of court. Promptly turning back to his cheerful tone, he states his objective to establish a new holiday in the summer, as people are apparently begging for something to celebrate. Space Kid stands up and reads off a piece of paper, asking what kind of holiday this is, and Campbell then counters with a question of his own, "Who wants to help create the next Christmas?" The campers eagerly raise their hands, and when Max confirms this isn't a scam to build a toilet, he decides to join in, despite David's protests. Gwen skeptically inquires as to how the process is meant to work, and is told that the premise of creating something original is to "take all the other things you like and just mash 'em together" - according to him, this is how his great-grandfather invented the spork and the labradoodle. The kids excitedly begin spewing suggestions for things they want to include: candy, fireworks, and a tannenbaum (the German word for Christmas tree), but again David protests that they're missing the point, since holidays aren't meant to be about commercialism; they're supposed to be about giving (giving gifts or giving thanks). Campbell shuts him down by saying, "the children have spoken and capitalism is listening", and asks for more ideas. This leads to the campers singing an anthem for Street Campbell's day, set to the obvious tune of "Jingle Bells". David interjects while singing to ask about giving thanks, and is shut down by Nurf and Max, and the kids all group up together to sing the chorus. Immediately thereafter, Campbell is speaking to a female reporter at the tall castle tower in the Activities Field that Nerris often uses for her roleplaying, claiming that all the kids just burst into song and dance spontaneously. When she asks if they came up with the holiday all on their own he agrees wholeheartedly, saying this holiday is meant to be fun for the whole family and possibly the entire world, insisting she quote him on that in her article. She asks what the holiday is in celebration of, and when his initial response of "just celebrating life" kills her interest, he quickly interjects that the campers are actually dying from cancer, which reels her right back in. He lies that Max has the first case of mega-leukemia in all of North America, and that, underneath his helmet, Space Kid's face looks like chewed-up bubblegum. The reporter is very clearly touched by all of this and assures him that the public will find the story sympathetic as well, which prompts Campbell to get a bit dramatic in saying that the kids might die of disappointment if the holiday doesn't catch on, asking her mention that as well so that they can dramatically increase holiday card sales as they walk off. From inside the tower, David appears in the window, having been eavesdropping on their entire conversation, and darkly says that he knew it. Inside the Counselors Cabin, Gwen is glaring at the TV to try and drown out the sounds of David talking, who is hotly insisting that Campbell is relapsing into his old self with this apparent money-making scheme, and that they have to do something. Gwen pops the cap off a bottle of egg nog and tiredly informs him that they don't, and if Campbell wants to keep the kids busy for the day then more power to him. She then explains that the holidays mean something different to everyone - in her case, Twilight Zone marathons and regret for giving egg nog another try. David declares it's up to him and Quartermaster then, leaving her to contemplate adding rum to her nog. David slams open the door to the Quartermaster's Store to demand his help, but instantly realizes he's just walked in on the elder's attempt to sacrifice an 8-horned goat and is told to leave. He quickly slams the door and decides he'll handle this himself. David peeks into one of the Mess Hall windows to see Dolph wrapping presents, Harrison stuffing a Thanksgiving horn, Nerris stirring a bowl of stuffing, Nikki carefully painting Easter eggs, and Space Kid writhing in a pile of tangled Christmas lights on the floor, which Nurf helpfully plugs in for him. David chuckles to himself and wanders off to the fuse box, cutting off the camp's electricity. Gwen angrily kicks the TV as she sees David creeping past the window, still chuckling, and the campers are quite literally left in the dark as to what's going on. Some time later, David is perched in a tree with a pair of binoculars, watching Campbell and the kids tie a huge red ribbon around a pine tree. His grumbling is swiftly interrupted by the branch breaking under his weight, causing him to plummet directly into a pile of mud and tall grass. Seizing the opportunity to visit the vacant Mess Hall, he throws open the doors with a devilish grin, covered in heavy grass mounds and armed with a small vacuum cleaner, laughing maniacally as he attempts to vacuum up the campers' arts and crafts projects. He stops and questions why he thought that would work, and opts to just pile them into a burlap sack instead. Finally, in the middle of the night, David sneaks into Campbell's room and replaces the pile of Street Campbell's Day cards resting under his hand with his clipboard diagram of the outhouse construction project, slinking away with a mischievous smirk. It seems his way of "handling things" is with a bit of controlled chaos. A short while later, Campbell and the campers are gathered together inside the Mess Hall, where Campbell slams down a newspaper article, having to correct himself twice (one about a clock tower getting struck by lightning and another with a detailed photo of Quartermaster stealing goats again) before finally finding the one that caused his outburst - "Local con artist up to usual tricks", which is meant to be about himself. He briefly laments not having been given a photo in the article, but then angrily explains that this means Street Campbell's Day is over due to falling out of favor with the public. He knocks over his presentation board and breaks David's clipboard in half, who flinches nearby at the sight of the aggression, before storming out. Nikki and Preston are openly dejected, while Nurf chimes in that all the yelling and storming out makes it feel like Christmas around here. Max declares this fucking sucks since they all worked hard to plant their cover story, which David is surprised to hear. Nurf says they wanted to ensure their holiday was as popular as the mainstream ones, Space Kid mentions the story of his face looking like chewed-up bubble gum was his idea, and Nerris explains that Campbell was going to put the greeting card sale funds towards an actual flushing toilet. David timidly asks if all of that is true, having assumed that Campbell was spreading lies to manipulate both the campers and the public this entire time, and Max slams his fists on the table before jumping up to get in David's face - "Who cares if he did? What or why you're celebrating doesn't matter. Holidays are just an excuse to take some time off and hang out with the people you like!" Neil chimes in that he likes having time off school and Chinese takeout during Christmas holidays, Preston suggests that Saint Valentine was a pedophile (since he was Catholic) yet there's still a celebration, Nurf says Christopher Columbus is a horrible human being but they also get a 3-day weekend for his holiday, and Dolph adds that Mother's Day was invented by the greeting card industry but his efforts still make his mother happy-cry. Max concludes that they were all working together to make something cool, and that David should've been happy and worked with them instead of fucking them over. David guiltily rubs his arm and repeats his earlier philosophy about holidays being about giving, but all he's done is take something away. Max replies that he finally gets it and ushers everyone out of the Mess Hall. Preston takes a quick aside to tell the "heathen" to take a shower and slams the door on the way out, leaving David alone with his thoughts. He walks up to the shattered presentation board and examines the drawing of a Christmas tree on the front page, and suddenly gets a burst of inspiration. David slams open the door to the Quartermaster's Store once more to ask for help, but is taken aback to discover he's interrupted an apparent satanic ritual in progress. Sat in the middle of a skull-outlined pentagram with his pants down, Quartermaster is startled, and the shadowy presence of a goat demon retracts itself inside his anus. He cryptically says the disruption has severed the chains of the arch lord Xoz'gaz and the ninth realm is fore-doomed to ruination, and David withers fearfully that this is a "no" in response to his call for help. He rushes into the Counselors Cabin to find Gwen laying on her back with her legs on the armchair, who then sits up to woozily tell him off for ruining her TV marathon (which meant she had nothing to do but drink, apparently) and is now forced to deal with a bunch of upset kids with a hangover, so he can fix the situation himself. He looks dejected for a moment before rushing off, leaving her alone in the dark, mumbling that tequila was the worst choice of drink mix. In the middle of the night, David cuts down the big pine tree that was previously adorned with the red ribbon, and unsuccessfully attempts to drag it off. Gwen, still hungover and choking back vomit, arrives on the scene to ask if he needs a hand, and Quartermaster pops in to offer his help as well, which David accepts with a soft word of thanks. As soon as they pick up the tree, Gwen leans over and upchucks violently. The next morning, a banner has been hung up over the Camp Campbell entry sign that reads "Happy Street Campbell's Day" and the activities field is all aflutter. Nikki is climbing up the tree (which appears to have been wrapped around the flagpole beside the Mess Hall to help keep it upright) and triumphantly holds out an Easter egg she's discovered, while Neil is setting up a fuse on the ground, Max lounges in a lawn chair, most of the other campers sit on picnic tables nearby to partake in the stuffing Nerris made, while David and Gwen look on tiredly (the latter of whom is not-so-subtly still dealing with a hangover). As soon as Nikki comes rushing over to the group, Neil strikes a match, and the tree promptly goes up in flames as the fireworks inside it go rocketing off into the stratosphere, exploding in a colorful display that even the jaded and aloof Max can't ignore. The campers all sit down on the ground to admire the show, and David makes his way over to Campbell while sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. He apologizes for doubting him as he feared Campbell was going back to his old ways, and asks for forgiveness. Campbell easily agrees, accepting the apology, adding "this is what Street Campbell's Day is all about... I guess." A bunch of grey flakes descend from the sky and Nikki eagerly sticks out her tongue to try and catch them, as if they were freshly falling snowflakes. She is immediately disgusted because they taste burnt, and Quartermaster informs her that it's ash because the camp's on fire, gesturing to a massive blaze behind him. Transcript would go here. Features Characters Main Characters * David * Cameron Campbell Supporting Characters * Max * Gwen * Quartermaster Minor Characters * Nikki * Neil * Preston Goodplay * Space Kid * Nurf * Dolph * Nerris * Ered * Harrison * Reporter Music * "Camp Camp Song Song" (Opening Theme) * "St. Campbell's Day (song)" - unofficial title, not included in the credits * "Christmas, Christmas (or Whatever)" (Ending Theme) Gallery Trivia * In the RT 2019 Holiday live stream (where the episode first aired before being uploaded to RT FIRST), Miles Luna stated that this episode was originally meant to be the Season 2 Christmas special, but the script was set aside and a completely fresh one was built for what ultimately became "A Camp Camp Christmas, or Whatever". ** The crew often revisit old scripts and ideas that they regret not using, which is what led them back to producing this episode. Re-working parts of the script to fit Campbell's Season 4 redemption arc was easy and sensible (also according to Miles), as well being able to present an example of David's personality "becoming a little more shitty", which was previously mentioned in "Keep the Change". * According to episode director Jordan Battle, they got so far into production for this episode back in 2017 that there was even some dialogue recorded before things got shelved; most notably, some of the campers' singing lines from the song mid-episode. The rest of the lines were recorded much later, and he says that putting it all together was challenging. ** Miles agrees that writing songs is very hard; despite being on a "high horse" after creating "Better Than You", when it came time for him to write for "Christmas Is My Favorite", he ended up having to ask for an extension to complete the song's production. * "St. Campbell's Day (song)" is Nikki, Neil and Max's second ever song in the series, although Neil and Max only sang during the chorus. ** The singing performances for Preston, Dolph, Campbell, Ered, Nerris, Nurf, Space Kid, and Harrison are the first time any of these characters have had an actual singing role in the series (performing short backup vocals during "Better Than You" don't count). * In this episode, Cameron Campbell is voiced by Ian Sinclair, however all of his previous appearances to date have him voiced by Travis Willingham. * One of the Easter eggs that Nikki was making appears to be a direct reference to the ORF from the RT series . * The song that plays at the end of this episode is "Christmas, Christmas (or Whatever)", which had previously been used in "A Camp Camp Christmas, or Whatever", making it the first credits song to play in more than one episode. ** Both episodes just so happen to be Christmas specials as well. ** This also means that the songs that Richie Branson creates for the end-credits scenes can often be much longer than the brief window in which the credits roll, so that only snippets of what he produces end up getting used. Cultural References * Upon explaining the outhouse-building activity, Campbell calls David Ebenezer Scrooge, the protagonist of the novel-turned-play "A Christmas Carol". * Dolph makes a reference to a German Christmas song (that was later translated and became a major staple of the holiday in English) when asking if they could have a tannenbaum. * The campers sing a parody of "Jingle Bells" for their holiday anthem. * Gwen says watches marathons of "The Twilight Zone" during the holidays. * David's appearance and antics after he's covered in grass are meant to embody that of "The Grinch". ** His laugh while attempting to vacuum the Easter eggs is a recreation of the laugh of a character named Mandark from the cartoon "Dexter's Laboratory". * The first newspaper headline that Campbell shows the kids reads "Clock tower struck by lightning", referencing the climax of the film "Back to the Future". * Preston mentions Saint Valentine, alleging him to be a pedophile. Continuity * Nikki seems to have continued her trend of mixing up holidays again. She's mixed up Christmas and Parents' Day (referenced in both "A Camp Camp Christmas, or Whatever" and "Parents' Day"), and this time she's mixed up Easter with the newly-established Street Campbell's Day. * Campbell pressuring holiday card sales with the potential threat of killing children due to poor sales is similar to a moment in "The Fun-Raiser" where Preston creates a commercial outright stating that the campers will die unless people donate to the fundraiser to replace Quartermaster's hook. * David's Grinch-like tactics to try and put a stop to the festivities showcase an example of his attitude changing for the worse, which was mentioned in "Keep the Change", and Max even points out how David would have typically behaved (ie: being happy and eager to participate) prior to that episode. In both episodes, David stooped to pulling underhanded stunts that would publicly and irrefutably show a change in Campbell's behavior (hiring a criminal to threaten the camp and give Campbell a chance to save everyone, versus exposing his attempts to create a holiday as a scam to the media). ** This is also the second time where David has openly expressed distrust for Campbell - the first was his less-than-warm reception to Max dragging him into the trio's plot to take back the camp in "Camp Corp.", and THAT attitude was finally brought to a head by his back-stabbing plan to frame David for Campbell's own crimes in "Cameron Campbell the Camp Campbell Camper". From Season 1 up until the latter episode, he's always feverishly admired Campbell and often turned a blind eye towards his often dubious words and behavior. ** It's also the first time that David has expressed doubt and fear over Campbell potentially relapsing into his old ways since his redemption story arc began. He's been nothing but openly supportive and helpful from the beginning, most notably in "Keep the Change" and "Cameron Campbell Can't Handle the Truth Serum". Errors * During the scene where Campbell unveils his news article, the overhead outdoors shot of the Mess Hall shows that it is very clearly night time, with crickets chirping and the windows glowing in the darkness, yet the view from the windows inside the Mess Hall during the scene plainly shows bright blue sunny skies. References